#oscars2000

And that’s a wrap! Kevin Spacey celebrates his American Beauty Best Actor win with Oscar, Dianne, Michael, Thora, and Mena at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party | March 26, 2000

Kevin Spacey wins his second Oscar for his indelible portrayal of Lester Burnham in American Beauty | March 26, 2000

Transcript of Kevin’s emotional speech (also, watch if you haven’t already)

“This is the highlight of my day. I hope it is not all downhill from here.

I first have to say that I would like to dedicate this to the man who inspired my performance. A man who has been my friend and my mentor, and since my father died, a little bit like my father, whose performance in “The Apartment” stands as one of the finest we’ve ever had. Jack Lemmon, wherever you are, Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

To my friends for pointing out my worst qualities, I know you do it because you love me. And that’s why I loved playing Lester, because we got to see all of his worst qualities, and we still grew to love him. And this movie to me is all about how any single act from any single person, put out of context, is damnable, but the joy of this movie is that it is real beauty, and we found real beauty in this extraordinary script by Sam Mendes … by Alan Ball. It feels like he wrote it though, doesn’t it?

Uh, I have, I am very proud to be an actor, and I have tried very hard to protect my work, and I am, I’m stunned and I’m a bit speechless. Dianne, thank you for teaching me about caring about the right things, and I love you. And Mother, I don’t care what they say about bringing you to awards shows, I will always bring you to awards shows cause I’m proud of you and I love you.

“I’m proud of this movie and whatever way it goes tonight, we’re alright.”